when to let go | l.h.

thirty six

meeting luke's parents in person for the first time has gone a lot better than i had originally hoped. after my short nap, luke woke me for dinner and we headed downstairs together, greeted by the smell of warm food and a smiling mr. hemmings.

"well you must be laila!" the tall man said opening his arm for a hug. he pulled me into his side and i chuckled softly as i pulled away.

"yes sir, glad to finally meet you mr. hemmings. thank you for having me."

"oh, call me andrew." he laughed warmly and gave luke a look a couldn't quite read. "we're glad you're here, luke never stops talking about you so we figured it would nice to finally meet you."

luke, although twenty four years old, groaned quite childishly at his fathers statement before looking at me with red cheeks. i giggled softly and brought my hand up to cup his cheek. "your mum said the same thing."

everyone in the room laughed except for luke who buried his face in my neck and jessie who stood quietly in the corner of the room.

"if it helps, i think it's cute you talk about me." i mumbled softly and press a kiss to luke's cheek before turning to liz. "would you like any help at all?"

"oh no sweetheart that's okay, you're our guest." she smiled and gestures to the table. "you guys sit, andrew and i will bring everything out."

we all quickly agreed and sat at the table, luke between jessie and me. the smell of the food made me realize how hungry i actually was as they began to place everything around the table it wasn't long before our plates were filled and we were all chatting.

"so we heard of that meeting you had at work laila, how did that go?" liz asked, seeming genuinely curious.

my cheeks heated up a bit and i smiled. "it actually went really well, thank you. this was my first big shot at this company and the band and their team really liked the ideas i had for them to get their name out there, so my manager is considering promoting me."

"aye that's great! hard work pays off." andrew smiled and told a quick story about how he became a boss of the company he worked for. once he finished however, jessie turned to me.

"is that why you were late laila?" the way she asked the question made it seem like she was just wondering, but the look she gave me almost seemed smug.

"oh uh yeah, i truly am sorry about arriving later than expected. this whole meeting was kind of late minute." i quickly took another bite of my food and sighed quietly to myself, feeling slightly bad for not coming with luke.

"it's no worry laila, we're just glad you're here." liz smiled. luke rested his hand gently on my knee and we spent the rest of dinner all chatting. once everyone was finished liz asked luke to help clear the table. he began to do so and as i stood up to help, jessie smiled at me.

"don't worry laila, i got it."

i sent her a small smile back and nodded at her. "thanks."

andrew had trailed off somewhere i wasn't sure of and liz and i remained in the dining room. "i'm sure that boy has yet to show you around," she laughed glancing over at her son who was currently dodging jessie from splashing water at him. "why don't i show you around?"

i tore my eyes away from the two and sent her a warm smile and nod. "yeah that would be great, thank you."

we started in the living room that i had only caught a glance of when i walked in. pictures of luke and his brothers decorated the walls in the cozy room causing me to smile. liz and i chatted for a bit about a few embarrassing photos of luke and she informed me i would get to meet luke's older brothers on saturday when everyone came over for a cook out. although nervous to meet more of luke's family, it made me happy that their family was so close.